Over the coming months a large number of quotes will be added. You may or may not agree with what is said but, having read them, it will be hard to contend that the EU is not on track to be a single federal superstate. When reading them remember that all this time UK politicians have insisted that there is no intention of creating a United States of Europe. Are they liars or just stupid?

Statements made by so called democrats when the French and Dutch voters dared to reject the proposed European Constitution

"A triumph of ignorance" - Neil Kinnock, former EU commissioner

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"Reactionaries, neo-conservatives, neo-communists and cretins" - MP and former Europe Minister

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"The experience begs the question of whether it was ever appropriate to submit the EU Constitution to a lottery of uncoordinated national plebiscites...The rejectionists are an odd bunch of racists, zenophobes, nationalists, communists, disappointed centre left and generally p****d off" - Andrew Duff - MEP (laughably Liberal 'Democrat')

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"I confess that I am not a big supporter of referendums. I believe that they are especially inaapropriate when trying to deal with the intricacies of creating a treaty...Although a referendum might be appropriate for Pop Idol it is unsuitable for examining a treaty" - Chris Bryant MEP and Chairman of the Labour Movement for Europe

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"This is a complicated area and I do not regard the EU Constitution as a completely suitable subject for a referendum" - Kenneth Clarke MP and former Conservative front bencher

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"The European Constitution was the victim and not the subject of the referendum" - Valerie Giscard d'Estaing former French President and architect of the rejected Constitution

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What a bunch of arrogant, self interested politicians they are, with their contempt for the views of the people

"We have our own dream and our own task. We are with Europe, but not of it. We are linked, but not comprised. We are interested and associated, but not absorbed"
Sir Winston Churchill

"The outstanding role played in the midst of the storm of the Second World War is owed not only to Britain's profound national qualities but also to the the value of your institutions...With self-assurance. almost without being aware of it, you operate in freedom a secure, stable political system. So strong are your traditions and loyalities in the political field that your government is quite naturally endowed with cohesion and permanence; that your parliament has, throughout each term of office, an assured majority; that this government and this majority are permanently in harmony; in short that your executive and legislative powers are balanced and work together...Thus, lacking meticulously worked-out constitutional texts, but by virtue of unchallengeable general consent, you find the means, on each occasion, to ensure the effective functioning of democracy... "

General de Gaulle speaking in 1960 - What would he think of the EU constitution?

"A shrewd conqueror will always enforce his exactions only by stages...The more numerous the extortions thus passively accepted, so much the less will resistance appear justified in the eyes of the people, if the vanquished nation should end by revolting against the last act of oppression in a long series. And that is especially so if the nation has already patiently and silently accepted impositions which were much more exacting"

Adolf Hitler

Mein Kampf

"There is no question of eroding any national sovereignty; there is no blueprint for a federal Europe. There are some in this country who fear that in going into Europe, we shall in some way sacrifice independence and sovereignty. these fears I need hardly say are completely unjustified"

Edward Heath, British Prime Minister

1972

"The aim was, and is... ever closer political union. The means... were and are economic"

Edward Heath

1989

"Of course, yes"

Edward Heath

1990, in response to the question "Did you have in mind a United States of Europe in 1972?"

In his 1995 book 'Ayes to the Left' Peter Hain, Minister for Europe, said

"The policy, legally enshrined in the Maastricht Treaty, of a European bank independent of democratic control and dedicated almost exclusively to price stability must be reversed. It is economically disastrous and politically dangerous.."

Is it not amazing how being offered a government job with your own chauffeur can change your views?

"European government is a clear expression I still use, you need time, but step by step, as in the Austrian case, the European Commission takes a political decision and behaves like a growing government"

EU Commission President Romano Prodi

The Independent, 4th February 2000

"I do not see any consequences for the euro. Denmark is only 2.7 per cent of GDP in the euro-zone. That is why the markets have taken it calmly"

Hans Eichel, German Finance Minister

29th September 2000

"...one of the French Presidency's priorities will be to facilitate use of the enhanced cooperation mechanism...The creation of a group of countries which would be the front-runners of those which want to take Europe forward..."

French President Chirac

At the annual conference in Paris of all French ambassadors

28th August 2000

"There is good reason to accept this text as the basis for an eventual European constitution"

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder

The Irish Times, 16th October 2000

"As the Commission sees it, the draft Charter of Fundamental Rights offers genuine added value, irrespective of the status it will initially enjoy. Sooner or later it will have to be incorporated into the Treaties"

European Commission

The Times, London, 13th October 2000

"The Irish Taoiseach warned fellow EU leaders on Saturday that even mentioning the new Charter of Fundamental Rights in the EU treaty could have the same legal effect as incorporation in the treaty"

The Irish Times

16th October 2000

"The charter's ultimate status in treaty terms will be decided later, but the vice-president of the 62 member charting convention, France's Professor Guy Braibant, told journalists that the charter would have an effect on law and politics whether or not it was part of the treaty. 'If such a text exists, even if it is not legally binding, courts tend to refer to it,' Professor Braibant said. 'Magistrates will refer to it and it will inform their jurisprudence.' Before it had even been completed it has already been cited four times as a source of European values by the wise men group investigating Austria, he said."

The Irish Times

16th October 2000

"The Charter of Fundamental Rights should be seen as the central element of a process culminating in the European Union's adoption of a constitution"

Resolution of the European Parliament

Agence Europe, 16th March 2000

"The enlargement we are talking about is not just any enlargement, but rather a decisive step towards the unification of the continent, a change in nature and in scale"

M. Pierre Moscovici, Minister Delegate for European Affairs

An address to the students of the Ecole Polytechmique, Palaiseau, 31st January2000

"Here in Brussels, a true European government has been born. I have governmental powers, I have executive powers for which there is no other name in the world, whether you like it or not, than government"

EU Commission President Romano Prodi

European Parliament, November 1999

"But what is the Commission? We are here to take binding decisions as an executive power. If you don't like the term government for this, what other term do you suggest? ... I speak of a European government because we take government decisions."

EU Commission President Romano Prodi

The Times, 27 October 1999

"We must recognise that political unity of purpose will be vital if the euro is to work. Countries will not be able to dine a la carte at the European table any more ... "

former Irish Prime Minister, John Bruton

"It contains others who, like us, are completely committed to the European Union."

Conservative MEP Christopher Heaton-Harris

on Radio 4's Today programme 6th January 2000 when discussing the EP inter-group SOS Democracy

"Britain does not dream of some cosy, isolated existence on the fringes of the European Community. Our destiny is Europe, as part of that Community."

Baroness Thatcher as Prime Minister

1989

"We must now face the difficult task of moving forward towards a single economy, a single political entity... For the first time since the fall of the Roman Empire we have the opportunity to unite Europe"

EU Commission President Romano Prodi

European Parliament, 13th October 1999

"It is only natural that the eastern part of the continent will become our preoccupation for years to come because Germans see this as a matter of historical destiny. The most fundamental priority we have is trying to integrate all of Europe. But for France the underlying issue is all about coming to terms with its loss of influence in the world."

Herr Immo Stabreit, former German ambassador to Paris

International Herald Tribune, 11th September 1999

"The whole logic of moving borders and the formation of new nations must be broken through. As long as one remains within this logic, there will be just one bloody round after another in the Balkans. We must counter nationalism with European integration."

Joschka Fischer, German Foreign Minister

Irish Times, 20th July 1999

"The introduction of the Euro is probably the most important integrating step since the beginning of the unification process. It is certain that the times of individual national efforts regarding employment policies, social and tax policies are definitely over. This will require to finally bury some erroneous ideas of national sovereignty... I am convinced our standing in the world regarding foreign trade and international finance policies will sooner or later force a Common Foreign and Security Policy worthy of its name... National sovereignty in foreign and security policy will soon prove itself to be a product of the imagination"

German Chancellor Schroder

'New Foundations for European Integration', 19th January 1999

"The Council of Ministers will have far more power over the budgets of the member states than the federal government in the United States has over the budget of Texas"

Jean-Claude Trichet, European Central Bank

The European, 13th December 1998

"Transforming the European Union into a single State with one army, one constitution and one foreign policy is the critical challenge of the age"

Joschka Fischer, German Foreign Minister

The Guardian, London, 26th November 1998

"The single currency is the greatest abandonment of sovereignty since the foundation of the European Community... It is a decision of an essentially political character... We need this united Europe... We must never forget that the euro is an instrument for this project"

Felipe Gonzalez, Spanish Prime Minister

May 1998

"It doesn't matter - the House has no power to overturn the Maastricht Treaty"

Douglas Hurd

At the time the Conservative government was defeated on a Maastricht vote

"A European Army and a European police force lie at the end of the road to European Union... The Maastricht Treaty introduces a new and decisive stage in the process of European Union, which within a few years will lead to the creation of the United States of Europe... We want the political unification of Europe. If there is no monetary union, then there cannot be political union, and vice-versa."

Helmut Kohl, speaking as German Chancellor

1992

"I have never understood why public opinion about European ideas should be taken into account."

Raymond Barre, former French Prime Minister

"The Europe of Maastricht could only have been created in the absence of democracy."

Clause Cheysson, former French Foreign Secretary

"Monetary Union is the motor of European integration ......."

Jean-Luc Dehaene, Prime Minister of Belgium

"The process of monetary union goes hand in hand, must go hand in hand, with political integration and ultimately political union. EMU is, and always was meant to be, a stepping stone on the way to a united Europe".

Wim Duisenburg, President of the European Central Bank

"........ EMU looks likely to begin on schedule because economic issues are secondary to political aspirations."

"The Maastricht Treaty that created the EMU calls for a European political union with broad domestic and international responsibilities. Moreover, since no significant country existsor has ever existed - without its own currency, the shift to a single currency for the EMU members is a giant step toward such a European state."

Professor Martin Feldstein, TIME magazine 19/01/98

"On 1 January 1999 with the introduction of the Euro ... an important part of national sovereignty, to wit monetary sovereignty, was passed over to a European institution ... The introduction of a common currency is not primarily an economic, but rather a sovereign and thus eminently political act...political union must be our lodestar from now on: it is the logical follow-on from Economic and Monetary Union."

Joshka Fischer in a speech to the European Parliament, January 1999

"The creation of a single European state bound by one European constitution is 'the decisive task of our time'"

Joshka Fischer - Daily Telegraph 27/11/98

"The top priority (is) to turn the EU into a single political state"

Joshka Fischer - The Times 26/11/98

"........ Europe exemplifies a situation unfavourable to a common currency. It is composed of separate nations, speaking different languages, with different customs, and having citizens feeling far greater loyalty and attachment to their own country than to a common market or to the idea of "Europe".

Professor Milton FriedmanThe Times 19/11/97

"We should create an 'own resource' for the Union in the form of a direct income tax, independent of nationality"

Jose Maria Gil-Robels, President of the European Parliament, Daily Telegraph 25/10/98

"The finance of the country is ultimately associated with the liberties of the country. It is a powerful leverage by which the English liberty has been gradually acquired. If the House of Commons by any possibility loses the power of control of the grants of public money, depend upon it, your very liberty will be worth very little in comparison."

Gladstone, House of Commons, 1891

"The single currency is the greatest abandonment of sovereignty since the foundation of the European Community ... It is a decision of an essentially political nature. We need this United Europe ... we must never forget that the Euro is an instrument for this project."

Felipe Gonzalez, former Prime Minister of Spain, May 1998

Monetary union is to be seen "as the last step in a process of integration that began only a few years after the Second World War".

Dr Helmut Hesse, Director, Bundesbank

"Any nation which gives up its freedom in pursuit of economic advantage deserves to lose both".

Thomas Jefferson, US President - almost 200 years ago

"I can envisage a directive "to harmonise EU business tax rates within two years."

Jean-Claude Juncker, President, Ecofin Council

"A signal must be sent ... that a single market and a single currency is not the end of the EU journey."

Viktor Klima, Chancellor of Austria, 24/10/98

"The future will belong to the Germans....when we build the house of Europe. In the next two years, we will make the process of European integration irreversible. This is a really big battle but it is worth the fight...We want the political unification of Europe. If there is no monetary union, then there cannot be political union, and vice versa."

Chancellor Kohl

"Economic and monetary union is the central part of the project for European unification. It is of course, the highest and purest form of integration."

Karl Lamers, Chancellor Kohl's Spokesman

"A single currency is about the politics of Europe. It is about a Federal Europe by the back door."

John Major, November 1996

"The single market was the theme of the Eighties. The single currency was the theme of the Nineties. We must now face the difficult task of moving towards a single economy, a single political unity."

Extract from speech to European Parliament, 14 April 1999

Interviewed in the Financial Times, Mr Prodi said: "We have started a new chapter in the structure of Europe. The Euro was not just a bankers' decision or a technical decision. It was a decision that completely changed the nature of the nation states."

"The pillars of the nation state are the sword and the currency, and we changed that."

Mr Prodi added that his "real goal" was to draw on "the consequences of the single currency and create a political Europe."

Daily Telegraph, 7 April 1999

"The Euro can only lead to closer and closer integration of countries' economic policies ... This demands that member states give up more sovereignty".

Romano Prodi, European Commission President Designate

"A single currency will oblige Britain to become a member of the European Central Bank, the executives of which will be appointed for eight years. No matter what damage they inflict on us no-one will be able to remove them. People will have the right to vote, but that vote will be a gesture or charade because the parties and government for whom they vote will no longer have the powers to rectify the wrongs inflicted upon them".

Llew Smith (MP Labour), 18 November 1996

"Of course the risks will remain, especially if we don't follow up the bold step that led to a single currency with further bold steps towards political integration".

Gerhard Schroder, German Chancellor

"There is a tendency to underestimate the fiscal powers and therefore the political powers available to the Council. The Council will have more power over the budgets of member states than the central federal institutions have in either Germany or the United States..... Yes, there is an element of political union involved, since fiscal decisions are necessarily political..... What remains true is that the political union enshrined in the Maastricht Treaty in the economic field has no equivalent today in other fields: diplomacy, internal and external security."

Jean-Claude Trichet, Governor, Banque de France

"Germany, as the biggest and most powerful economic member state, will be the leader, whether we like it or not."

Theo Waigel, German Minister of Finance

"There was a threat to employment from the movement to Economic and Monetary Union...(with) fixed exchange rates, restricting industrial growth and so putting jobs at risk. This threat has been removed."

Prime Minister Harold Wilson in the 1975 Referendum.

"There is no example in history of a lasting monetary union that was not linked to one State."

Otmar Issuing, Chief Economist, German Bundesbank Council

1991

"A European currency will lead to member-nations transferring their sovereignty over financial and wage policies as well as in monetary affairs... It is an illusion to think that States can hold on to their autonomy over taxation policies."

Hans Tietmeyer, Bundesbank President

1991

"We argue about fish, about potatoes, about milk, on the periphery. But what is Europe really for? Because the countries of Europe, none of them anything but second-rate powers by themselves, can, if they get together, be a power in the world, an economic power, a power in foreign policy, a power in defence equal to either of the other superpowers. We are in the position of the Greek city states: they fought one another and they fell victim to Alexander the Great and then to the Romans. Europe united could still, by not haggling about the size of lorries but by having a single foreign policy, a single defence policy and a single economic policy, be equal to the great superpowers"

Hraold MacMillian, British Prime Minister

The Listener, 8th February 1979

"On the basis of repeated meetings with him and of an attentive observation of his actions, I think that if in his own way W Hallstein (first president of the European Commission) is a sincere "European", this is only because he is first of all an ambitious German. For the Europe that he would like to see would contain a framework within which his country would find once again and without cost the respectability and equality of rights that Hitler's frenzy and defeat caused it to lose; then acquire the overwhelming weight that will follow from its economic capacity; and, finally, achieve a siuation in which its quarrels concerning its boundaries and its unification will be assumed by a powerful coalition."

Charles de Gaulle, President of France

Memoirs of Hope, 1970

"The fusion of economic functions would compel nations to fuse their sovereignty into that of a single European State"

Jean Monnet, founder of the European Movement

3rd April 1952

"It is as well to state this at the outset - no government dependent on a democratic vote could possibly agree in advance to the sacrifices which any adequate plan for European Union must involve. The people must be led slowly and unconsciously into the abandonment of their traditional economic defences, not asked, in advance of having received any of the benefits which will accrue to them from the plan, to make changes of which they may not at first recognize the advantage to themselves as well as to the rest of the world. No satisfactory economic plan for Europe can be devised without sacrifice of sovereignty by the nations concerned."

'Design for Freedom' committee, chaired by Peter Thorneycroft MP

June 1947